Man injures woman in robbery bid, gets 7-yr imprisonment

A court has sentenced a man to seven-year jail term for injuring a woman while trying to snatch her purse and gold chain here in 2010. Additional sessions judge Atul Kumar Garg also imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 on convict Rashid, a resident of Rampur in Uttar Pradesh.

The court held him guilty of causing grievous injuries to the woman while trying to rob her under the Indian Penal Code and Arms Act. According to police, 37-year-old Rashid had tried to snatch a gold chain and bag from victim Komal Pehljani, who was working in the State Bank of India on September 29, 2010.

Pehljani had said while she was on her way to home from her office at Green Park here, two men on a motorcycle came in front of her and pillion rider Rashid snatched her bag and chain. Her bag fell down and when Rashid tried to lift it, she caught hold of him after which he took out his pistol and hit her on her head.

The woman raised an alarm following which police reached the spot and apprehended the accused. She added that the man, riding the motorbike, had fled from the spot. Police told the court that they recovered a pistol and two live cartridges from the possession of the accused.

Rashid’s counsel said his client was present on the spot  but police had inadvertently arrested him assuming that he was the robber.

The court, however, dismissed his contentions saying the statements of prosecution witnesses are “coherent and firm”.